Here’s our Big Family Food and Fun: December 8-14, 2024 post!
Big Family Food and Fun: December 8-14, 2024
Last Saturday evening, we pulled out our special candles (the battery operated kind that doesn’t involve actual fire) to kick off our Sabbath. We try to use our meal time to teach our kids more scripture and more about God’s love for them.
We ate Chicken Nuggets, Fries, and had special Coconut Cakes that a friend had made. Mealtime, in general, at our house is loud and hectic. Per their usual, the kids didn’t get the memo this week again that Sabbath is supposed to be restful and a time of delight. :/ BUT, we’re going to keep doing this anyway because it’s important to us to set aside this 24-hours to have a work-free mindset and to try and engage with our kids and our community in a different way.
Church on Sunday was wonderful and Spirit-filled. After worship, our kids got to participate in a ministry that was so good for them. A few weeks prior, we’d grabbed some Gift Tags that allowed us to purchase gifts for kids in Lincoln who may not otherwise have anything under their trees. Matt and I pulled enough tags for each of our kids to pick a toy for another child their age. We shopped with them individually online so they could pick their gift. Then this Sunday, they got to hand off their gift to the people facilitating this ministry.
The kids were so proud of the gift they’d chosen and loved handing it over. We have a lot of chaos and frustration with behaviors at our house. But THIS. Involving our kids in ways to serve like this shows that their hearts are loving and good. We will keep finding opportunities for them like this. It is a win.
There was a lunch meeting after church that day that most of our regular Sunday Lunch people were involved with. So we invited a different family that we had been looking forward to spending time with. Our meal was smaller and very simple: A pot of Chili with cheese, sour cream, and Fritos, Muffins, Carrots, and Grapes.
We set out the last of the Coconut Cakes from our friend and a plate of Christmas Spice Cookies for dessert.
There were 18 of us sharing our meal that day. It was lovely and peaceful.
The weather was unusually warm, so the kids played outside most of the afternoon.
Keith and Anna wanted to help me make Pizza that night for our dinner.
Keith was very proud to turn his pepperoni into a happy face.
I only had two crusts in the freezer, so I made a small dish of Crustless Pizza to go with the regular pizza. Brayden declared the crustless version to be the best pizza he’d ever eaten and begged me to please do this every time. :)
Monday was a catch-up day and also a get-ahead day. Our meals consisted entirely of leftovers as we pulled out and warmed up random items all day long as needed. Not cooking meals freed me to make a large Lasagna Casserole to eat Tuesday night before a music concert for Brayden and Kiya.
The girls helped me make a batch of Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins.
Worth noting: Having all this “help” in my kitchen will be great some day. Meanwhile, this day it distracted me and I forgot to add the coconut oil I’d melted on the stove for these muffins. They still tasted ok, but were a bit crumbly. Meh.
That evening, since we just had leftover tidbits, Anna helped everyone choose a (low fat) muffin, ha, to round out our meal.
Malachi came over for a while that evening!
Every once in a while, Elias and Malorie take both Brayden and Kiya out on Mondays for some Big Bro Big Sis time. This is very good for them! A local restaurant offers half-price kids meals on Mondays so that was their destination. The restaurant was packed that night so they brought their food home to eat.
Tuesday mornings, I leave early to take Auggie to Speech Therapy. I scrambled 12 eggs before I left and the kids ate them with Chocolate Banana Blender Muffins. Malorie helped Matt get the other kids to school.
The rest of the day was spent playing, caring for Little Sweetheart, and getting Brayden and Kiya ready for their school concert that night. I baked the Lasagna Casserole for a very early dinner and warmed up leftover green beans, two cans of corn, sliced pears, and made a salad.
We got everyone out the door to enjoy Brayden singing and playing his ukulele on stage.
Then, both Brayden and Kiya sang fun songs together with their friends. It was an awesome evening, with all of our older kids making the effort to be there and support. I wasn’t able to get a picture, but there 20 of us in the fan club. I’m so thankful for our Bigs and how they love the Littles.
Wednesday morning, we ate yogurt and granola for breakfast. I asked Kiya to help me get out the granola options, and as I shared last week, her personality was shining as she got everything set out just so. :)
After we got the elementary kids off to school, we loaded up the other four and headed to Walmart and Aldi for groceries.
Back at home, I made a double recipe of Breakfast Cookies into Bars. I really like having these in the freezer to pull out on Sunday mornings for an effortless breakfast.
Arrow spent the afternoon with us. This was Keith’s reaction when he got home from school and realized that Arrow was hanging out in the kitchen with us.
I got out raspberries to go with our dinner – and the girls discovered them as soon as they got off the school bus. At dinnertime, here’s what I had left to offer. :)
I made a big Taco Bar for dinner with Crusted Tilapia (from Costco) and Seasoned Beef. I made a pan of Stick of Butter Rice to help stretch the meal, plus we had shredded cheese, queso, salsa, cilantro, lettuce, black beans, tortillas, and chips.
After we all ate our fill, I took all the tidbits of leftovers and stirred them together into a Burrito Casserole for a future meal.
Thursday morning, we warmed up some bags of Breakfast Sandwiches that I’d made last week and frozen. This photo doesn’t look like much, just the tail end of some bags of Breakfast Sandwiches, plus oranges and the Salad Matt and I drink every day. :) Mornings are so fancy around here.
Throughout the day, I worked on putting together a triple batch of Spicy Ham and Potato Soup to rewarm for our upcoming Sunday Lunch. It has hard for me not to dip into it because this is my favorite soup. Or maybe this one is. Meh, I love both!
Brayden had another music concert that night – this time for band. We ate an early dinner again of two Rotisserie Chickens (that I’d picked up marked down to just $2.02 at Walmart the day before!) with Mashed Potatoes (instant from Azure Standard), Fried Zucchini, and Stuffing.
These kids just began learning instruments so we were proud of what they’ve learned so far.
Malorie and Elias helped us hold down a row full of restless kids throughout the concert. Thank goodness I’d packed snacks (for the kids, not for M and E). ;)
We got home and rewarded everyone (especially the adults who had survived the second concert of the week managing a row full of littles) with a piece of fudge before bed. Keith had helped me make it that morning and he was proud!
Friday morning the kids ate cold cereal for breakfast. I made a pan of Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Bars to have on hand for easy snacks.
I’ve been needing to give this fella a hair cut but it’s hard to find the time (and honestly, the motivation). He has curls when we get his hair wet, but then it turns to this after playing and putting on hats to go outside. I attempted to take a “before” picture and he refused to smile for me, making for a perfect “please cut my hair because I am pitiful” photo. :)
While he sat at the kitchen counter, I cut off about an inch of hair. He is never impressed with hair cuts, and this time was no exception. But look how sweet!! And how grown up he looks.
I wrapped some presents that afternoon – one of my favorite parts of holiday prep!
For dinner that night, I boiled a pound of noodles and warmed up leftovers from Thursday’s rotisserie chicken. Typically I make homemade Alfredo Sauce but this time I just opened a jar of sauce from Aldi. We had all of this with Steamed Broccoli. Then we put on pajamas and headed to Heartlands church for a Christmas Movie Night for the kids.
The older kids watched the Muppets movie in one room.
And the younger kids watched The Grinch in another room. Everyone enjoyed popcorn and mix-ins. The kids loved this!
Saturday morning was pretty chill as we let the kids watch some Christmas shows while I got some work done in the kitchen. I mixed up a quadruple batch of Cream Cheese Cut-Out Cookies so that we could work on them together throughout the morning.
Reminder if you’re making cookies with kids: DO IT LIKE THIS. Unless you love Christmas cookie stress, of course.
I also made a big batch of Pancake Sausage Muffins to help us through the next week as we finish up getting ready for Christmas. We make lots of Breakfast Sandwiches to make early mornings easier for adults when they head to work. So I thought maybe Pancake Sausage Muffins would be a nice change of pace. Also, at this time, Kiya baked a cake for our Sunday lunch. She’d gotten the mix for her birthday and was excited to use it.
I have no idea what I did wrong on with the Pancake Sausage Muffins, but they did not rise. Did I forget the baking powder? We’ll never know. Either way, they taste fine and I packaged them up for easy breakfasts.
Then I brought the kids in a few at a time to roll and cut out Cream Cheese Cut-Out Cookies. First the girls.
Then the boys.
Phew! Got ’em done! (We’ll decorate another day.)
After the kitchen got cleaned up, we made some Christmas crafts at our living room table.
We cleaned out the fridge to eat leftovers for lunch. Then we spent the rest of the day watching a Christmas movie, picking up the house, and getting ready to move into our time of Sabbath rest.
And that was our week!
My almost 8 y/o daughter and I made your cream cheese sugar cookies on Friday and decorated them yesterday for a church event happening in the evening. Totally agree with you about doing cookie making in steps! It made the entire process enjoyable for both of us. ;-) The recipe was delicious and easy; thank you! Merry Christmas to you, Laura and family! <3
Many already know there is a war on american’s favorite holiday which is commonly called “christmas” or rather christ-MASS, what most don’t care about is the fact that it is paganism repackaged as a “christian” holyday when the fact is you cannot take a pagan celebration and make it anything but pagan.
To start off most people quote Jeremiah 10, well that sounds alot like a xmas tree but fact is Jeremiah was talking about all idols in general not just the xmas tree or baal bush as I prefer to call them. xmas is a heathen way and in this article I aim to prove such, many will call this a “war on christmas”, well yes, there is always a war with the devil and his devices.
Jeremiah 10:2 “Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.”
After all, shouldn’t the roots of our worship be in the scriptures, rather than paganism? and that the people that do those things must need be born, meaning they have yet to be reborn, and that’s a scary thing. He goes on to say that the Gentiles were dismayed at the signs of heaven. History tells us that when the sun began to go further away from the earth and the days grew shorter in the winter, the sun worshipping Gentiles were “dismayed”, and feared that the sun would not return. So they held certain festivals just after the time of the Winter Solstice when it did begin to return. This return of the sun is why December 25th is the birthday of so many solar deities/gods. Jesus commanded us to remember his death and resurrection, and never instructed us to remember, keep, or celebrate his birthday. Now, remember; pagans, witches, seculars, and Satanist all celebrate Christmas. Why would they celebrate someone who they completely oppose? That’s a good question, here’s the truth: The Original celebration is called “Saturnalia” in which they create a feast to Sam Hein (the god of the dead). But the new name of “Christmas” sits real well with them too, because the undiscerning Christian does not know the roots & history of Christmas, or the true meaning of what the word means. The term “Mass” is derived from the Late Latin word missa (dismissal), a word used in the concluding formula of Mass in Latin: “Ite, missa est“ (“Go; it is the dismissal”) What they in fact are celebrating is the dismissal of Christ, in other words, (his death).
This is why they are so merry and exchange gifts with one another.
Notice an interesting parallel found in the Book of Revelation 11:7-10 as the two witnesses from God, get killed. “And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
And their dead bodies [shall lie] in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.” As we can see, this is Satan’s way of celebrating the death of something he considers an obstacle. You may say, yes but I celebrate the birth of Jesus regardless of what they celebrate.
I say to you, did Jesus ask us to keep and celebrate his birthday? And if still decide to celebrate his birthday; does it have to be in the company of a group of people who hate the God you love? To conclude, by participating, you are participating in the commercialization of this wicked helliday. We know as Christians that Satan is in control of this earth, and uses his people to accomplish his evil deeds and desires. Whether it would be through direct satanic pacts, sinful behavior, or plain ignorance. A person, who is not under the blood covenant of Christ, will fall under Satan’s lies, confusions, and ultimately his control. No one knows what day Jesus Christ was born on. From the biblical description, most historians believe that his birth probably occurred in September, approximately six months after Passover. One thing they agree on is that it is very unlikely that Jesus was born in December, since the bible records shepherds tending their sheep in the fields on that night. This is quite unlikely to have happened during a cold Judean winter. So why do we celebrate Christ’s birthday as Christmas, on December the 25th?
The answer lies in the pagan origins of Christmas. In ancient Babylon, the feast of the Son of Isis (Goddess of Nature) was celebrated on December 25. Raucous partying, gluttonous eating and drinking, and gift-giving were traditions of this feast.
In Rome, the Winter Solstice was celebrated many years before the birth of Christ. The Romans called their winter holiday Saturnalia, honoring Saturn, the God of Agriculture. In January, they observed the Kalends of January, which represented the triumph of life over death. This whole season was called Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun. The festival season was marked by much merrymaking. It is in ancient Rome that the tradition of the Mummers was born. The Mummers were groups of costumed singers and dancers who traveled from house to house entertaining their neighbors. From this, the Christmas tradition of caroling was born.
In northern Europe, many other traditions that we now consider part of Christian worship were begun long before the participants had ever heard of Christ. The pagans of northern Europe celebrated the their own winter solstice, known as Yule. Yule was symbolic of the pagan Sun God, Mithras, being born, and was observed on the shortest day of the year. As the Sun God grew and matured, the days became longer and warmer. It was customary to light a candle to encourage Mithras, and the sun, to reappear next year.
Huge Yule logs were burned in honor of the sun. The word Yule itself means “wheel,” the wheel being a pagan symbol for the sun. Mistletoe was considered a sacred plant, and the custom of kissing under the mistletoe began as a fertility ritual. Hollyberries were thought to be a food of the gods.
The tree is the one symbol that unites almost all the northern European winter solstices. Live evergreen trees were often brought into homes during the harsh winters as a reminder to inhabitants that soon their crops would grow again. Evergreen boughs were sometimes carried as totems of good luck and were often present at weddings, representing fertility. The Druids used the tree as a religious symbol, holding their sacred ceremonies while surrounding and worshipping huge trees.
In 350, Pope Julius I declared that Christ’s birth would be celebrated on December 25. There is little doubt that he was trying to make it as painless as possible for pagan Romans (who remained a majority at that time) to convert to Christianity. The new religion went down a bit easier, knowing that their feasts would not be taken away from them.
Christmas (Christ-Mass) as we know it today, most historians agree, began in Germany, though Catholics and Lutherans still disagree about which church celebrated it first. The earliest record of an evergreen being decorated in a Christian celebration was in 1521 in the Alsace region of Germany. A prominent Lutheran minister of the day cried blasphemy: “Better that they should look to the true tree of life, Christ.” The following is a quote from the 2000 Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 11 ; page 390.
“During the later periods of Roman history, sun worship gained in importance and ultimately led to what has been called a ‘solar monotheism.’ Nearly all the gods of the period were possessed of Solar qualities, and both Christ and Mithra acquired the traits of solar deities. The feast of Sol and Victus (open unconquered Sun) on December 25th was celebrated with great joy, and eventually this date was taken over by the Christians as Christmas, the birthday of Christ.”
Notice how it says “both Christ and Mithra acquired the traits of solar deities?” Pardon me, but do any alarm bells go off here? The Christmas celebration as we know it today, is clearly pagan in origin, that is it has Satan’s prints all over it. When researching it anyone can see it is clearly not a Christian holiday. What bothers me is so many preachers know what it is and still do nothing about it. They stand in the pulpit year after year and do not tell the “flock”, that it is one of the pagans most sacred days. Why is this? Do these men of God not know about it? The reason is the “flock” would not accept it and would run the preacher off!! They will let the “flock” drown in sin at risk of loosing their pay check and position. It boils down to no GUTS!! I get mail daily from pagans and once in awhile they will slip in the fact that the church celebrates their holiday, and they are correct!!! Its time for Gods people to get some backbone and stop the non-sense. We best do something or God will. But to make things even worse, there are even more OBVIOUS lies… Such as that fat bastard old santa clause Santa Claus
All over the world, Santa Claus is God to the children of the world (move the n to the end of Santa). Others say ‘Father Christmas’.
Parents purposely and deliberately lie to their children and tell them that they should fear Santa Claus because “he knows if you’ve been bad or good”. These same parents also lie to their children about the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy. Then they wonder why their children become liars and don’t believe the Messiah is real later on in life.
This is clearly a total abomination to God. You don’t have to look very far in the word of God to find out how much he loathes idolatry and lies. God is the only true Mighty One!
Our children look to us and believe every word we say. Do they not deserve the truth? How abominable it is for a believer to teach their children to fear Santa Claus and in so doing creep an idol into the conscience of a child! Parents that teach their child to pray to this little fake god should be beyond ashamed, but if they have failed to repent come judgment time woe to them….. In a generation of TV watching however, lies have became so much more popular than truth. Another thing is if you go and buy your children presents why in the world would you give some fictitious person credit for it, that is just a little silly if you ask me!
I see Walmart selling shirts that encourage people to believe in the santa lie.
LORD JESUS IS KING of kings and LORD of lords!